Dark Shadows
by Masked-Maiden-of-Gotham
Summary: Bruce gets turned back to an eight year old boy, and after a while loses his memory, will the team of heroes be able to help their comrade or slowly fall into the dark spirit underneath. rated t, im paranoid
1. Chaos Errupts

**Dark Shadows**

**Summary: Bruce gets turned back to an eight year old boy, and after a while loses his memory, will the team of heroes be able to help their comrade or slowly fall into the dark spirit underneath.**

**Disclaimer: I own zilch…Alright I lied, I own nothing **

**Chapter 1: Chaos erupts**

The tower was quiet, unusually quiet.

Despite the fact, every single hero was here, no one had bothered to utter a word. They just sat and stared at the body, on the medical bay. Each one staring, wondering what in the world happened.

Not even the heroes on the mission knew what happened, they just knew, he had yelled for help and the deed was done. He was the only one that knew. But he was unconscious lying on the bed, not having moved an inch since they arrived.

Hell, they weren't even sure he'd remember anything, considering his condition.

"How long has he been out?" Diana muttered.

"Two hours, Di." Flash answered, his usual preppy and bouncing attitude wisped away.

Everyone looked down and couldn't help but glance at him. His face was violently pale, and he was cold to the touch.

Every since they checked his vitals, no one had bothered to touch him, afraid one wrong move would break his frail body.

It didn't seem right; he shouldn't be on the bed. He shouldn't be this pale or small. They shouldn't be afraid he'd die if they made one wrong move. He shouldn't be unconscious.

But here he was and there they were, everyone doing the exact opposite of what they shouldn't be doing.

_Beep. Beep. Beep_

His heart rate was steady, but his breath was shallow. And soon enough they felt themselves worrying more with every beat of his heart.

That is until it suddenly jolted upwards.

J'ohn jumped to his feet and hovered over the small boy, removing his mask in the process, just in time to see his eyes flutter open.

"J'ohn?" the small voice stuttered out.

"Batman, are you alright?" he questioned, trying to not give away his situation.

"Fine." He muttered out, "Except for the fact I've been turned to a kid."

J'ohn's eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't expected him to know, or even recall what happened to his body.

"Batman," Superman trudged through the crowd before appearing. "What happened?"

"Morgan." He hissed, everyone reeling back at how much venom his voice held. "She did this!"

"Why, why would she do this, we haven't seen her or her son for what?" Shayera asked. "A year or so?"

"Well she came back, on our last mission, after the police left." He bit back.

"What'd she do?"

He breathed in deeply slowly recalling what she had said before he spoke.

"Mordred, apparently had turned into a shriveling old man, who hardly spoke at all." He paused and continued. "But he had told her of the time we brought him down, how I had tricked him into being older, she always knew we had tricked him, but never considered who had, until now I suppose."

"Wait that still doesn't explain why she lashed out on you, or why she turned you into a kid." Diana spoke up. "This doesn't add up at all, and the pattern seems mismatching. She now gets to take care of her 'little' boy, without a hitch."

"That was exactly what I thought," he continued. "But now, he can't talk to her, can't play anymore, and can't even hold up a conversation anymore. She was ecstatic about him talking to her, but when it was about that day, she realized who she needed to punish. At first she was ranting on how, she couldn't in all her mind, figure a way to punish the Batman, before recalling on how I reacted as a kid, not really wanting to relive Childhood no more. She gave me a maniac laugh and chanted…something before this happened."

He motioned to himself as he spoke the last phrase.

"Was the chant in a different language or something?" Diana asked again.

"No, she had chanted in English," he hummed. "But I can't recall a single word besides darkness and memory."

"Darkness and memory?" Superman whispered.

"Wait a second, can't the other magic users or Etrigan figure out a way to change him back?" Arrow called out suddenly.

Everyone began to murmur in agreement.

Zatanna sighed before standing up, as everyone turned to her.

"The other and I cannot help bats in this situation."

"Why?!" an angry voice shouted.

"Because it is not our spell, Morgan is a powerful magic user, but the type of magic I sense is not normal or even ancient magic." Everyone stopped to listen. "This magic was conjured up by pure hatred, and can only be broken if the enchantment has been fulfilled or broken by the one who cast it." She breathed in deeply. "Hatred is a powerful emotion, but when mixed with magic can be unstoppable and unbreakable, I'm afraid we have no other choice but to wait."

They all let the information to sink in, realizing the consequences of what this meant.

Batman felt it the worst, he didn't want to be a kid. He didn't want to relive his whole life again. He couldn't stand the pain. He wasn't strong. How could he be strong, if he pushed everything away?

He felt a tug at his heart, and something yanking on his head.

He blinked realizing the black spots covering his vision; the sudden darkness was welcoming him with open arms, willing him to join their embrace.

He heard people screaming his name, before he was staring at the ceiling. Patches of blurred colors appeared above him. Yelling and screaming, pleading him to wake up.

But he was awake, tired but awake. Until a single voice met his ears, anger and hatred filling their voice as they chanted.

"_An eye for an eye, darkness will consume you, memory flooded from your mind; a child will consume this man, full of longing and fear, never to believe until he can learn to wish, shadows dancing and taunting, till he learns to believe."_

Confusion flooded his mind, learn to wish. What did that mean?

Finally another voice came to his mind, calming and reassuring him.

"_Everything will be alright."_

Finally Darkness hugged him with a careful embrace.

**So how was that? I finally rewrote it. Dark shadows, does have a meaning, and I am hoping this one is full of angst and comfort maybe a bit of humor tossed in randomly now and again. I reread this about twice before reading how I started before, and I like this one better so here you go.**

**-Maiden out**


	2. Beginning of Nightmare

**Dark Shadows**

**Summary: Bruce gets turned back to an eight year old boy, and after a while loses his memory, will the team of heroes be able to help their comrade or slowly fall into the dark spirit underneath.**

**Disclaimer: I own zilch…Alright I lied, I own nothing **

**Chapter 2- Beginning of a Nightmare**

Silence flooded the room, a deep heart wrenching silence.

Faces filled with shock. They couldn't believe it.

"That," Arrow muttered out feeling numb. "Was the scariest thing I have ever seen."

After realizing Zatanna and the others magic users had no say in this, Batman had gone… haywire, insane? They couldn't describe how bad it had been, or the feelings that came along with it. It was just… terrifying.

He had straightened after, leading the others to believe he had a plan, a way out of this mess. But he just numbly muttered out incoherent words. Words not even Superman could understand.

J'ohn had tried to calm him down with telepathy but was just launched back into the wall. The lights flickered on and off. Soon enough he fell back. Superman Diana and Hawk girl hovered over him yelling his name, pleading him to wake. But nothing worked.

Soon the lights ceased to flicker, bats lying down breathing in shallow breaths, almost as if he were angry. Then he whispered his voice rough and pitched as if he were a female. But the anger still seeped through.

Then he spoke,

"_An eye for an eye, darkness will consume you, memory flooded from your mind; a child will consume this man, full of longing and fear, never to believe until he can learn to wish, shadows dancing and taunting, till he learns to believe."_

They all froze, was this the chant he was talking about?

"The spell," Zatanna breathed, and then fear overcame her voice as she spoke. "The spell has taken place."

Suddenly, Batman arched back, as if in pain. He hollered loudly, pleadingly. Finally he collapsed onto the bed, the monitor, which had completely slipped their minds, that was there had flat-linned.

Everyone froze, no one reacted, no one moved. Canary shook her head, the first one out of the trance.

"TAKE HIM TO THE MEDICAL BAY!" She screeched, forcing everyone to snap and move as fast as they could.

"We're already in the medical bay!" Flash yelped.

"THEN SOMEONE BETTER FUCKING DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW!" She yelled.

Everyone scattered, some went after J'ohn to wake him up, while others reacted to getting the medicines and other materials to revive him. It was a full twenty seconds before his heart rate picked up, albeit slowly.

"HOLD!" Shayera screamed making everyone freeze. "He's steady, for now."

Everyone shifted back to a normal pace, no longer worried he might die, but still frightened at the SECOND scare he gave them that day.

"He died." Flash muttered finally taking it in. "he died."

Many heroes looked at him in shock, of course he died! His heart just stopped. Right when they thought that Flash turned, realizing what they were thinking spoke out shakily.

"He's…I… I never thought…Him," Flash stuttered before grunting in annoyance. "Bats shouldn't be in a state like this, he's never been this vulnerable…He shouldn't be this vulnerable."

Then everyone caught on to what he was implying. Bats was a strong, smart man, he never showed weakness to any of them. But to see him in a state like this was scary.

Many nodded, and others looked down as they listened to the beat of the heart.

"Alright." Shayera spoke again. "Everyone out, we all have other duties to uphold; besides we have J'ohn AND Superman here. Bats will be fine."

Once that was said everyone started to shuffle out, some reluctant. Diana looked at her.

"Shayera," She spoke her tongue clicking in thought. "What happened?"

"Bats freaked out." Shayera stated, raising her eyebrow at the Amazonian warrior.

"No, I know that but _What Happened_?"

Shayera stopped and looked at her, jade green eyes meeting crystal blue.

"I don't know." She answered truthfully.

They looked at each other for a few more seconds before turning to the Bat.

'_He'll be fine,_' Diana thought grimly. '_He's got J'ohn and Clark_.'

She stepped out of the room, walking towards the cafeteria hoping to get her mocha. Slowly, she walked past the other heroes, carefully and skillfully dodging them as she made it to the counter.

She heard the others whisper, and it was strange. Despite the fact that they had their own personal lives to hide, all of them had stated or screamed out what was wrong. Nothing has ever been downgraded to silly gossip, before.

It was hard to believe one man could do this.

Sighing, she turned to walk away. Freshly made mocha in hand, and a tired posture, made everyone walk out of her way.

Except for one.

Flash casually walked toward her, with a plateful of different foods. How appetizing.

"So, how was your day Diana?" Flash smiled.

Diana gave him a look.

His smile turned into a frown, "Hehe oh right."

**-To the medical bay- **_**(Sorry I didn't want to right any more of OOC Diana)**_

The two men stood there, watching the boy sleep.

Clark blinked, realizing how pervy his actions may seem, slowly looked away.

Soon enough his mind wandered, and when his mind wandered he usually started to feel guilty. If he had just heard Morgan la Fay he could have stopped his friend's fate. Then maybe they wouldn't be in this mess right?

"I highly doubt that." J'ohn spoke, startling the man. "Sorry, you were thinking so loud."

Clark smiled, then frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean one way or another she would have come back Superman." He looked at said hero. "We would have been in this situation eventually, whether we like it or not."

He looked back at the boy, feeling bitter at how many emotions were thrown the boy's way. He had sensed nothing from the boy, not a single notion, not even the wave of unconsciousness was reaching him. If the monitor was not there, he would have believed the young lad dead.

Then a sharp pain entered his mind, almost throwing him back like the first time. He looked around, pushing a barrier around the three of them but it wouldn't go away. Soon enough he blocked Clark off as well, realizing it was coming from the young lad.

"Superman," He gasped out immediately putting Clark on alert. "Check on Batman."

Nodding, he sped to the boy's side, just in time to see his face writhe in pain.

"Um, ok I'm not a doctor, and I've never seen a kid in pain but." Clark paused looked back to J'ohn and pointed to the boy. "I think he's in pain."

"Really?" J'ohn grunted. "I haven't noticed."

Clark made a noise of protest, before facing Batman. Breathing deeply, he shook the boy, roughly awake.

**-Perspective change- **_**(Not P.O.V.)**_

Bats shot up petrified, shallow breaths shaking his small frame. Dead blue eyes darted around, looking towards the two men who hovered above him. One had blue eyes, the same blue eyes of the man who killed his parents.

He shook the thought from his head, No this guy looked younger.

"W-who are you?" He stuttered.

By then he realized, he wasn't in the alley, he wasn't surrounded by blood and snow. He didn't see his two dead parents on the floor watching blankly at everything. He couldn't figure out who they were, unless.

His head snapped up and he backed away.

They were criminals, kidnappers.

"Well I'm Superman, and this is J'ohn." The man with blue eyes had stated.

Code names. He was so screwed, they were probably nowhere near Gotham right now.

The green man had reached a hand towards him, intending to shake his hand.

"Get away from me." He hissed lightly.

But neither had heard him.

"Are you okay Batman?" The man with blue eyes asked again.

He glared, but cursed himself, as he felt tears sting the edges of his eyes.

"I said get away." His voice rose, this time making the two men step back. "Where am I?"

They looked at each other.

"The Watchtower?"

He bit down on his tongue, before forcefully spitting out his next question.

"And where is that?" He hissed again.

"Space."

He looked up, barley registering the surprise between the two men. Looking through his messy bangs he saw the door was open, and some man dressed in green walk in. all three of them were distracted.

He jumped up before darting between their arms and legs, being yanked back momentarily by his arm. It had done nothing for them, to capture him once again.

After he jumped out of the room, he sprinted through the halls, not caring where he was going. He clumsily dodged every person he happened to come across, when horror took over his mind. This was an organization. He sprinted faster, before noticing a deep crack in between the wall. Big enough for him to fit, but too small for anyone else to fit through.

Silently he squeezed through, mentally cheering himself for being so small. As he reached the end of the crack, he sat down, knees close to his chest, and skinny arms covering himself.

Finally he let himself silently cry, he was kidnapped once again. But this time, there was no mom or dad to go home too. No one to help him out. He was all alone. Aside from Alfred anyway, but he wasn't family, he was just a butler who kept up with his stupid antics. He could leave anytime he wanted now.

He was alone.

All alone.

**Well how was that hu? I know still sucked, I know for sure this one is longer, maybe not by much but it definitely is. Ok so I had questions from two reviewers so I just had to answer them.**

**One was **_**guest**_**, who I hope is still reading this:**

**I don't intend on making this SMWW, because honestly I can't handle that ship either, I believe their relationship is more of a brother sister type.**

**So it might be BMWW, but I'm not too sure yet, it might not have any romance at all, seeing as how Bats is a kid and all. Sorry don't mean to Disappoint.**

**Another was **_**Book girl fan**_**:**

**Belief is hard to gain when your parents have died right before your eyes. I do intend to elaborate more later on but for now I can't give too much away. Aside from that, he is all alone in the world so what do you think? I will elaborate further if you or any other wants an explanation. **

**Remember Alfred will be pulled in later and so will the other Bats, but batman feels alone, so yeah.**

**Thanks for reading now review please.**

**BTW MERRY CHRISTMAS READERS, TO ALL SOME GOOD PRESENTS TO OTHERS A GOOD NIGHT!**

**-Maiden out**


	3. False Belief

**Dark Shadows**

**Disclaimer:I can't own anything  
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**Chapter 3- False Belief**

Alone.

How can he be alone now?

He was trapped, incased by kidnappers who would never care for an orphan. They'd probably raise him to be one of them now, backed by billions of dollars his family held.

Despite his cries, no one had found him yet, but he heard them. They were screaming, panicking, and barking orders to find him. He saw the flashes of colors blur past in front of him, some nearly tripping. Others turning to look at him, but then scoff and continue running.

Did they not see him?

He was alone, crying, and his coat he had dropped earlier. He had a white shirt on, so how were they not able to see him?

He sighed, he didn't want to be found, but he'd die there in less than a week without food or water.

Maybe he could find a way out, there had to be a way out if he were in space. Otherwise how would they get him here, or how would they get everyone else.

Maybe they didn't know his parents died, maybe they would send him down and he could go home.

Silently he continued debating himself, hoping to find or think of a reason they would let him go.

"_**ALL HEROES REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA, IMMEDIATLEY**_!" Someone yelled over the intercom.

Heroes? No, they couldn't be heroes; they had to have been villains. Heroes don't kidnap little kids, right?

Code, it must have been a code, a way to lure him out so they can capture him again.

'_Take that captors_,' he smiled slightly. '_A little boy figured out your plans_.'

"Does anyone have a plan?" Superman asked out loud.

No one moved. He groaned lightly, rubbing his temples in dismay.

Someone in the far back raised their hand before screaming out.

"Can't J'ohn find him; with you know his telepathy and stuff?" It was the new guy, Booster Gold.

Superman turned to J'ohn, just in time to see him shake his head in disappointment.

"Unfortunately, something is blocking me off from him," he continued with a more depressed note in his tone. "The only way I can find him is if he fell asleep or woke up, other than that he's completely blocked off."

A short murmur went through the crowd, before another hand shot up, this one was the Blue Beetle.

"Hey, uh, Superman sir, um can't you find him, with your x-ray vision." He called out, rather shyly.

Superman huffed, and shook his head in the same manner J'ohn did.

"Some of these places are led-bound; it's possible he could have slipped into one of those places without even realizing it."

Another quiet murmur spread through the place. This time John walked up to them.

"I can probably find him with my ring; if I can just go to the place where he first left I can try to find his tracks."

Nodding, Superman led him to the medical bay, as everyone else walked away. Right before entering the medical bay, he turned around. To his surprise he not only saw John, and J'ohn, but Diana and Shayera as well.

Shayera looked up as if knowing what he was going to say.

"Flash went to go flirt with some ladies and trying to bring the spirits up." She yawned.

Okay, maybe not.

"Alright I found a trail." John spoke before anyone else had a chance to say anything.

Looking down, they saw the green light which his ring provided, but also so small footprints highlighted in white. Though the white was faded.

Slowly following the footprints, they headed towards a crevice in the wall.

"I think this is wrong there is no way, he can fit in there." Shayera stated.

Diana nodded in agreement, before hearing the faintest sound of someone's breathe hitching. Or maybe he was small enough.

"Move out of the way." She stated firmly, watching as everyone took a few steps back.

She dropped to her knees slowly before looking through. Surprised to see faded blue eyes staring at her.

"He's here." She acknowledged, before trying to coax him out.

He shook his head wildly, stating lightly, "No, no you weren't suppose to find me."

Shayera spoke up, drawling in sarcasm, "Well guess what Kid we found you, now come on out."

"No, I'm not moving!"

"Come one kid, were not going to hurt you or anything."

"I don't know that."

They reeled back in shock.

He knew them, didn't he? When he woke up, it was just an act of shock. He couldn't forget them.

"It seems he has forgotten us." J'ohn spoke, his voice no more than a whisper.

"Forgotten you?" Bat's voice rose in anger. "I don't even know who you are; I've never met you before, and even if I did, why would you keep me here. Why haven't you let me go yet, no one's going to give you any money, you can't keep me here forever!"

"Money?" Diana asked. "What money? And of course we can't keep you here forever."

He looked at her.

"Aren't you kidnappers? Kidnappers want money." He stated voice bitter and cold.

"Kid," Shayera laughed. "Were not kidnappers, were heroes, we're the ones who save the kids from kidnappers. Besides, if we needed money, we'd do the right thing and get a job."

Everyone sent her looks, defying from 'are you crazy' or 'smooth, real smooth'.

"Oh." Bats said almost in understanding. "Then why were you looking for me?" his voice then hardened. "Why did I wake up here?"

Diana sighed lightly, "Because, you just ran out on two strong heroes, and you're here because you were shot with a m-MMPH!"

Shayera covered her mouth with her hand before saying. "Because we believe you have potential as a hero, we know about your parents and well Gotham is a dangerous place."

His eyes sparked unknowingly, as he listened.

"Your heroes, so why can't you do it?" he asked.

"Well none of us are from Gotham, so we don't know the ups and downs, besides it doesn't seem fair to the city if a hero came from another town, right?"

"Right." He chirped.

He didn't believe her one bit.

**A/N- well here you go Chapter 3, I'm sorry it's late but I cannot give you an exact update date, so you'll have to deal with how I update. I don't have internet at home so I go to the library or to my cousin's house to upload, which isn't very often as you can see. But I hope tomorrow I can upload once more, to repay for the lateness.**

**Alright, aside from that none of these are revised at all, so I apologize for misspelling, falsely written grammar, or repeats of certain phrases. Maybe they should call me the sorry maiden I'm always apologizing. Anyway see you later.**

**-Maiden out.**


	4. Argument

**Dark Shadows**

**Disclaimer: I own zilch…Alright I lied, I own nothing **

**Chapter 4: Argument **

Diana ripped Shayera's hand away from her mouth; excusing the both of them before dragging her back to the medical bay.

"What the heck was that Shayera!" she huffed out loudly.

"A conversation Di, you've been in 'Man's World' long enough to know that." She snarked back, "It was just a harmless conversation with a little bat."

"That was not harmless, that was Stupid!" she rose her voice slightly. "Why are you telling him all that…NONSENSE? You're just going to hurt him further when we tell him the truth." She breathed in deeply before turning to Shayera. "Why didn't you tell him the truth?"

Shayera scoffed lightly before sitting on one of the plastic chairs. She rested her chin on the palm of her hand, and her elbow above her knee.

"Ya, cause he's totally going to believe that he was a hero before, got turned into a kid by a deranged Witch, and lost his memory at the same time, giving all of us a fucking heart attack." She sighed. "I think it's better if we tell him what actually happened, when he trusts us."

"Oh, like we trusted you?" she gave her a glare.

Shayera flinched back, subconsciously wrapping her wings tightly to her sides. That was a low blow, even for Diana.

"No, not like that, I just mean why would he believe us." She stated softly, not daring to look the other woman in the eye. "If we told him the truth, he'd have a better chance thinking we were Kidnappers. Hell, I doubt he believed what I told him."

Diana softened, and looked at the winged warrior. Sighing deeply, she knew Shay was right. She figured out what was going through her head, and it was reasonable to believe that.

"I'm sorry; it's just that I believe we should tell him the truth."

"The truth hurts Diana, He's only like six years old, and Bats told us his parents died in front of him at a young age." Shayera breathed in deeply. "What would you believe, knowing the truth of what happened, or just a valiant lie?"

She mulled the thoughts over, and nodded, "yeah I guess you're right."

Shayera smiled weakly, "well know that, that's over, how about me and you go figure out what's the last thing he remembered, it could help us for a bit.'

Diana smiled back.

"Ya, maybe he will."

**A/N: ya I know this is a short chapter, and this is mostly based on Shayera and Diana, but I mean Come on. I could see this scene happening, but I couldn't find a way to put it in here properly. So this came through. Hope you don't mind, I just didn't want to leave this out.**

**Hope you enjoyed this one.**

**-Maiden Out.**


	5. A Dash of Flash

**Dark Shadows**

**Disclaimer: What can I say, if I owned this it would actually become an episode, hey maybe even an hour special ^(^-^)^**

**Chapter 5: A Dash of Flash**

The two ladies came back, the extremely tall one and the lair. Why they came back? He had no idea; no one was supposed to come back.

But here they were, trying once again to coax him out of his little hole.

"Come on, please." The orange-haired-white-winged woman pleaded. "If you come out I'll get you ice-cream and cookies."

The other 'heroes' gasped and looked at her.

"Shayera, desert before dinner!" the large blue-eyed man stuttered. "That- That's never been done before!"

"Oh pipe down boy scout." She huffed, and then she turned back to him and pleaded once more.

"No." he growled.

He didn't like the fact; she was coaxing him with sweets other than chocolate. Hell, he could be convinced to rule the world with just a bar of chocolate.

"Please." She pleaded once more.

"NOOO!" he snapped.

This was getting annoying; all he wanted to do was take a nap now. They knew where he was, he didn't want to be bothered by them anymore.

"Go away." He hissed. "Come back when you have a better bribe."

They all reeled back for a bit before glaring at him.

Well at least, Shayera glared.

"Fine." And with that they left.

He sighed in relief; they were finally away from him. Now he could take the nap, he wanted, and very well needed.

He curled into himself, frowning at the lack of warmth he felt. Maybe if he closed his eyes hard enough, or pretend yesterday never happened, he might be able to feel their warmth again. That's all he wanted, he just wanted to feel warm again; he wanted to feel their warmth again.

What was he thinking, there was no way in the world he would feel that warmth again.

He'd always be cold.

"Goodnight momma," he whispered, a single tear escaping his eye. "Goodnight papa."

And with that he fell into a dreamless sleep.

**-To the others-**

The four of them trudged back into the cafeteria, all disappointed and two a bit grumpy.

"That brat is so rude." Shayera growled.

"Don't you mean Bat?" J'ohn asked.

"That's what I said." She sighed slipping into a seat closest to them.

Which happened to be where Flash was sitting, finishing off the rest of his meal.

"So," his preppy attitude was back. "How'd it go?"

"Wonderful." Lantern croaked out sarcastically. "We found the kid in a small crevice, tried to coax him out, ended up getting snarked extremely bad, and have been shoed away from the bats small cave." He groaned rubbing his temples. "How was your day?"

Flash snorted loudly, hiding a laugh behind his hands. Before anyone could question what was so funny, he quickly cleaned the table, grabbed several sweet shakes for everyone, and a plateful of Oreos.

"So tell me exactly how you tried to coax the kid out?" he asked sipping on his shake.

"Well at first we tried toys, then video games then books, and then food, and finally sweets." Diana sighed leaning back with her own chocolate shake in hand. "Nothing worked; all we seemed to do was get him more annoyed."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, sighing in disbelief as they replayed the scene in their minds.

"Wow, this is one tough cookie," Flash stated. "I think I might have a way to crack the kid but first we must wait."

"Flash no offense or anything, but what the hell would you know about taking care of a kid, or rather anything about a kid in the first place?" GL snorted.

Flash had the decency to look slightly offended.

"I'll have you know, the city's orphanage needs lots of help with their kids, so I do try to help every chance I get." Then he chuckled slightly before pointing at himself. "Aside from that, I think you've forgotten I am a man-child, I know the minds of young kids."

They all rolled their eyes as Flash laughed loudly. After finishing their shakes and Oreos, they all immediately headed back up, hoping with their new ally, they could coax the child out of his cave.

"It feels like we're going to war." Lantern stated suddenly, as they neared the crevice.

Shayera looked at him and gave a strangled smile, "It might as well be, it's either win or lose in this situation."

He nodded grimly; this boy and his cave were their enemy at the moment, either that or a possible ally_. 'And now I'm thinking this is war, great.'_ He thought, annoyed.

Once they reached the hole, everyone backed away slightly, allowing Flash a chance to talk to the kid.

Crouching down, he looked at the kid, who was wide awake and staring at him. Then the boy growled loudly, and scooted further back.

"Why won't you leave me alone!?" he snapped.

Flash, was probably the only one who noticed the quaver in his voice.

"Hey, all we want to do is help you." Flash smiled slightly, before sitting down. "The names Flash and you are?"

"Not telling you." He growled.

"That's cool, so I'll just call you Kid if you don't mind." After hearing no deny, he continued. "So since you and my friends here got off on the wrong foot, how about you tell me your age?"

It was silent for awhile, and the others feared he would close up on everyone.

"Eight," they heard him whisper. "I'm eight years old."

Flash smiled.

"Alright, now were getting somewhere." He smiled. "So kid, why don't you get out?"

"NO!" He stated, suddenly curling into himself. "I won't go out."

Everyone snapped back.

"Why not?" This was probably the only few times, they heard Flash sound so serious.

"No, I don't know you, I don't know what you'll do, I just want to go home!" then his breathe hitched suddenly, as if he were crying. "I just want to go home."

He sounded so defeated, so depressed. It sounded as if his child hood had ended right then and there.

Flash sadly smiled, looking at him. His defeated stance told him wonders, but the worst thing he saw was his eyes. They were shimmering with unshed tears, but held anger and hatred and sadness in him. He was staring at a broken kid.

"Everyone wants to go home." He said softly, remembering what the nannies in the orphanage had told him. "But what do you call home, when no one's there."

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Bats started to cry. Not loud, but the five of them could hear it as clear as day.

"Flash." Superman scowled, he was supposed to drive the kid out, not make him cry.

"Wait." He paused, and listened to the broken cries of his once best friend.

"M-MOMMY!" he sobbed. "DADDY!"

He was still crying, when Flash started to soothe him.

"Hey listen," Flash crowed softly. "I know it hurts, but can you tell me what happened? I want to understand why it hurts so badly?"

Still crying, Bats told him what happened and what he saw. From what they gathered, to him it was Christmas Eve, and his birthday. So they went out for a movie, after it was over they headed back to their car, which was on the other side of the alley way. As they headed back, a man with a gun came out, he didn't hear what he said, but his dad offered him his wallet. He shot him and then his mother. Running off instead of shooting him, leaving him to stare at the lifeless bodies of his parents. Then he woke up here.

"They died on Christmas eve." Shayera whispered, feeling dread drop in the pit of her stomach. "This is also his birthday."

Flash, choked down the bile rising in his throat. The boy had a reason to cry, he had a reason not to trust them, and a reason to want space. But now they just needed him to trust them.

"Hey kid." Flash whispered once more.

"B-Bruce." He cried softly. "My *hic* name is Bruce."

Flash smiled softly.

"Bruce," He confirmed. "Listen Bruce, I know it hurts, maybe I don't know how bad it does, but I understand. Right now though, I bet your parents don't want you to cry, I bet they want you to smile, and be okay again."

Bruce shook his head in disbelief.

"No, No, No, No, No" He whispered.

"I understand why you don't want to believe me, but they're your parents, I don't think they'd want to see you sad." Flash concluded. "And I bet they don't want to see you so afraid of other people. So can you please come out?"

After a short five minutes, they saw the small black tuff of hair on Bruce's head pop out. But instead of glaring at them, like they expected, or even shy away from them. Bruce ran to Flash's side and hugged him as tightly as he could.

"Thank you."

**A/N: whew this is about 1,523 words or something, longest chapter I've written, well I hoped you enjoyed this longish chapter and all. I'm sorry I thought this was adorable, and possibly throughout this story I'll have Flash act as a big brother to poor Bats, and Diana and Shayera be big sisters. The other three can be the annoying uncles that everyone loves. **

**I have a guest that's review bothered me a bit.**

**They had asked something about wanting Bruce to kick Shayera's butt or something like that, I didn't intend for Shayera to come off as a complete Jackass, and I don't intend wanting to have Bruce hate her, it just fit with the plot line real well. **

**Oh the title A Dash of Flash I honestly wanted to put Brother Flash, but that didn't make sense since Flash doesn't act like a brother in this chapter. But hey add a small Dash of Flash and you get a little Bruce, hugging Him. A dash will do nicely. **

**Also for everyone else reading my story thank you for the review favorites and follows. I really, really love reading your comments. If only I had more, *sigh* oh well a writer can dream.**

**Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed, don't forget to review please.**

**-Maiden Out.**


	6. Bed Time

**Chapter 6: Bed Time**

They walked down the hallway, towards the abandoned medical bay. But this time, the were positive the little boy Flash was carrying would actually stay this time.

"So, uh Bruce," Superman started, trying to break the awkward silence. "Um, what do you like to do?"

Silence followed his question, not even the sound of him breathing floated to him.

Then he heard Flash snicker lightly. He turned to see, Bruce cuddled into Flash's neck. His cape swaying lightly and a small quiet snore escaped his parted lips.

He turned his head once more to see Shayera taking pictures and Diana cooing. Lightly surprised to see John and J'ohn smiling at the scene.

He smiled lightly as well, then turned to see, well rather hit the door to the medical bay.

"We're here," He groaned.

The others chuckled.

"So do one of is stay or leave him here?" John asked.

"I say i'll stay, I mean I feel like he trusts me more at this point." Flash pointed out.

Everyone nodded in agreement, Shayera even adding,

"Ya and if he runs you'll catch him."

Once everyone left, he set the boy down in the sheets, double checking to make sure he was secure in the blankets. After that was done, he pulled up a chair himself and sat sideways, so his back and legs were supported by the arm rests.

He double checked, making sure the boy was calm. Satisfied, his eyes landed on the young bat's face, none to surprised to see dried tears there.

Though his goal was to get him out, he couldn't help but feel guilty as he felt the tremors of the boy shake his own body. How he had cried for a mommy and daddy, despite knowing they would never be there again.

He was tiny, and so young. Yet this young boy was tortured and battered by, not only his status, but also by his age. Eight years old when your parents died, how the hell did this kid survive the next thirty?

He was glad, more than glad, that he had the opportunity to officially meet Bruce, but he never thought it would be in these circumstances.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he turned to look at the boy once more, before resting himself.

**_-about twenty minutes later-_**

It was calm, the red clad hero was sound asleep, as well as the boy on the bed.

But the atmosphere changed quickly.

Bruce's face scrunched up as a small whimper escaped his lips. Soon enough he clawed through the blankets, throwing them off him and onto the floor. Soon enough, he started to whisper nonsense into the air. Tossing back and forth, as if in a trance.

Then he yelped, rather loudly, enough to startle Flash awake.

"Whostartedthefire!" He yelped.

Seeing no immediate danger he turned quickly to Bruce. Not to surprised to see the boy shake with terror, but concern and worry was written on his face.

He gripped the boy slightly on the shoulders, before nudging him awake.

"Bruce, wake up."

But all he did was struggle.

Realizing that this might not have been the best strategy, he quickly switched to yelling his name.

"Bruce!" His voice grew more worried when he never responded.

"Shit." He cursed, beneath his breathe.

Why doesn't he respond?

**A/N Whelp sorry this is so short, but i got grounded and managed to get my phone back, so updates will probably be slow and tedious it'll only last a month so i will probably be updating short chapters for awhile. Sorry for the wait, oh an thank Striking Shadow to finally boot me into writing something, if not you all would of have to have waited for a month. **

** Aside from that i would love to thank all of my followers and favorites to this story, i really hope you all enjoy it. But can you all review, please, i would love feedback and all, and criticism would be grateful (no flames please). **

** I love how Flash and Bruce came out, really blends. Btw next Chapter will be nightmare, care to handle how scary it might be, i will have a warning on the top btw, just in case :). **

** I also have a Watt-pad, im under Masked-Maiden, and i am currently writing a fairy tail fanfic, ME AND MY FRIENDS ARE DRAGON SLAYERS :D. Ahem so thanks for reading.**

** Read, Rate, and Review p****lease.**

** - Maiden out.**


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